Thank God my son's in jail, says Amy Winehouse's mother-in-law

by SADIE NICHOLAS

Last updated at 00:50 24 November 2007

Most parents would be horrified to see their child sent to prison but Georgette Civil says she's "delighted" that her son, Blake Fielder-Civil is now on remand at Her Majesty's Pleasure in Pentonville, North London.

Indeed, after the past six months, Georgette and her headmaster husband Giles both firmly believe prison is the best thing that could have happened to Blake.

Her son and his wife singer Amy Winehouse's descent into drug addiction and squalid mayhem is well documented. Now Georgette believes her son's detention on remand is his only chance of beating his heroin addiction.

Even Blake, it seems, has come to the same stark conclusion.

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He has told his mother he is desperate to beat drugs and that, astonishingly, he doesn't want bail for fear of returning to his old life.

In fact, says Georgette, prison seems to be suiting Blake. Contrary to reports, her son is neither suicidal nor struggling to cope without Amy by his side.

In his mother's words, in just the fortnight since he was arrested on suspicion of perverting the course of justice, Blake has reverted to being "the boy we had before he left for London aged 17".

"Blake's more focused now than he has been in years," Georgette says.

"He's finally taking responsibility for his behaviour too and accepts that he and Amy are totally responsible for the mess they're in. Now he's using the time in prison to overcome his drug habit.

"He spends his days exercising and reading. He has always shared his father's love of reading and to this day he is forever recommending literary works for him. People think he's this monstrous junkie but, while he certainly has a drug problem, there is much more to Blake.

"Looking at him all dishevelled, gaunt and unkempt it's hard to remember the bright teenager who won a place at a great local school; who had so much promise."

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Hard indeed. And, of course, Mrs Civil can be forgiven for taking a more rose-tinted view of her son than others. What is not in dispute is that Blake and Amy have shared a relentlessly depressing tale.

With Blake locked up, Amy's troubles seem to have deepened. Slurring and sobbing, she gave an incoherent performance on the first night of her tour in Birmingham last week, leaving furious fans jeering and demanding their money back.

At least twice in the past few days she has been photographed with a white substance - presumably cocaine - clearly visible in her nostrils.

To understand the latest chapter in this wretched story, we go back to the morning of Thursday, November 8 when police smashed down the door of Amy's Camden home and arrested Blake for allegedly perverting the course of justice. He had been due to go on trial four days later for allegedly inflicting GBH with intent on a pub landlord last summer.

The arrest came among accusations that he had offered a witness in the case £200,000 to change his statement.

He could face a maximum sentence of life imprisonment if found guilty.

Though Georgette is understandably distraught at this latest turn of events she can't help but feel that currently it is absolutely the best place for him.

Certainly, since marrying on a whim with a £60 ceremony in Miami in May, Blake, 25, and Amy, 24, have cut pretty desperate figures.

The sordid chapters to their story are almost too numerous to mention but have included the award-winning singer being rushed to A&E after a three-day drugs binge and being pictured dazed and bloodied in Soho following a furious bust-up when Blake reportedly caught Amy about to take heroin with a prostitute.

Then, in August, the pair were packed off on a 'clean up or clear off' break to the Caribbean by her record company but again, failed to return clean.

Georgette, a 42-year-old hair salon owner, saw them when they returned: "They were both totally out of it on drugs.

"He was edgy and highly strung, she was docile and incoherent. As a mum I want to be able to make things right for my children, but I felt so utterly helpless.

"It was four years ago when we first suspected Blake of taking drugs.

"When he came home for a visit he was sniffing constantly and when we visited him in London he kept disappearing to the toilets in restaurants with his friends. We were horrified.

"As a head teacher, Giles is passionate in his condemnation of drugs.

"We were devastated at the thought he might be doing drugs and confronted him at once. He didn't deny it.

"He told me: 'It's normal, mum, everyone takes a bit of cocaine.'

"I couldn't believe what I was hearing from my own son, but he was quite nonchalant about it. And the evidence of what he was saying was staring us in the face - he was more verbally aggressive and tense.

"We offered to buy Blake a house close to us in Nottinghamshire in a bid to get him away from London and the music industry crowd he was mixing with but he declined.

"The circles he mixed in led him to Amy and inevitably their getting together was like an accident waiting to happen.

"They both had problems with drugs before they met but as a couple those problems have got dramatically worse as they seem to feed off one another's increasingly bad behaviour. It's been unbearable to watch Amy and Blake destroying each other but what more can we do?

"I can't tell you how many times I've urged them to return to rehab.

"One minute Amy would think it a good idea and then Blake wouldn't. The next minute it would be the opposite way round.

"The more drugs they took the worse their behaviour got and the more trouble they got into.

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"When I saw news reports that they'd been self-harming and then that Amy had been arrested for possession of drugs in Norway last month, I was devastated. I just thought: 'Can this get any worse?'

"It was hugely upsetting to see my son portrayed as some sort of monster who was accused of supplying his wife with heroin and cocaine and I worried terribly that someone would harm Blake as a result.

"Then there are my two other sons, aged 14 and 15, whose hearts are breaking seeing their big brother being portrayed like this."

The first that Georgette, who lives in a Nottinghamshire village with Giles, Blake's stepfather, knew of his arrest this month was a call from Amy several hours after police officers had taken him away.

"Amy called on that day and told me: 'Blake's been arrested but don't worry.'

"I was absolutely beside myself with worry. I said to her 'Giles and I and the boys are on our way' and the four of us got on the next train to London. It was the longest journey of my life but I had to be near my son.

"We arrived late that Thursday night and went straight to where Amy and her father Mitch were waiting. It was very tense, with Mitch shouting that it was all Blake's fault.

"Things got very heated.

"My 15-year-old son got very upset at Mitch's accusations about Blake. Giles had to step in between him and Mitch to calm things down."

She denies accusations that she and Mitch came to blows, as has been reported. "It was a row and that's all."

The following Saturday a tearful Amy attended Blake's brief appearance in court with fellow drug addict Pete Doherty. Georgette says she and Giles chose not to attend because Mitch had assured her that Blake would get bail and they would be able to see him immediately.

When he didn't, Georgette sought a meeting with her son's legal team. She was told by Blake's solicitor that the £50,000 Amy had earmarked as Blake's bail bond, should it be needed, had been withdrawn by Mitch.

"I rang Amy but she was too out of it to realise what was going on.

"She insisted she would pay but we didn't want to rely on her so Giles and I frantically managed to raise £100,000 through our own savings and the generosity of family and friends. We just wanted to have money on standby in case Blake changed his mind and wanted to accept bail if it was an option."

The first time Georgette saw Blake after his arrest was at his second court appearance the following Tuesday. There was no sign of Amy.

"Her manager later told me she didn't come because she was in bed. I was angry, I thought she'd have given anything to catch a glimpse of Blake."

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Now though she is glad the couple have been forced apart.

"My Mum and I visited Blake in prison the next day and I have to say it was wonderful.

"I'd been terrified of what state he might be in emotionally so it was a relief to find him positive and focused.

"He isn't on suicide watch as has been reported in some papers and he isn't crying.

"In fact he's going to the gym, he wants to study and he's going to use this time to sort himself out.

"He's already stopped taking drugs. He's missing Amy desperately and he wants her to get help. He has told her she needs to go into rehab."

The whole business, she admits, is one sorry mess and she clings to the hope that this will be the couple's opportunity to sort themselves out

"This is Amy's opportunity to sort herself out too and I've strongly suggested to her that rehab would be a very good idea because this continual bad behaviour has to stop.

"In fact I phoned and told her how cross I was at her foolish and unprofessional comments during her concert in Birmingham.

"Look at the state of her. How can she be held up as an example to other young people?

"This is a woman with enormous talent and a lovely personality underneath but she needs urgent help to deal with her problems.

"She's emaciated, incoherent and frequently out of it on drugs when I see or speak to her. The same has been true of Blake until his arrest.

"Together they were killing themselves.

"Apart, I finally feel they may have a chance of getting clean. But once Blake is out of prison they will inevitably want to be together again and that frightens me to death.

"If one of them isn't clean, what chance does the other stand?

"Unfortunately we don't believe Amy is surrounded by the type of people who are conducive to her living a healthier, happier lifestyle.

"There are lots of hangers-on in the music industry and those who believe that any publicity is good publicity.

"But look at the lives they are destroying.

"Amy is this wonderful singer but she's a mess. She's got a drug problem, she should throw the towel in for a year and come out clean.

"The public don't want to witness any more of her and Blake's behaviour. It's boring. It has to stop."

Georgette says that Amy still rings her often at her salon but that for now her son must come first.

"My son is my priority. It's early days with Blake.

"For now he thinks 'good old mummy' and I think both of us are just relieved to be close again.

"But in time we will talk about the past year. He's been well brought up and at some point I'm sure he will feel grim about what he's put us through.

"The last six months has been hell - I've barely eaten and I've barely slept.

"But he doesn't need to apologise to me. I'm his mum, I love him unconditionally and the only thing I want is for him to be clean."

Although she and her husband Giles forbade Amy and Blake from visiting them at home after they returned from the Caribbean three months ago - they will not tolerate drugs in their house - Georgette insists that wherever they are will always be Blake's home.

"Giles and I absolutely won't condone the use of any drugs, recreational or otherwise which is why they're not allowed here.

"It's not how we were brought up or how we've brought our three boys up.

"But in London and in the music industry drugs are glamorised and it sickens me.

"Why is it deemed clever that artists like Amy or Pete Doherty or Kate Moss take Class A drugs? Why do their careers seem only to thrive after scandalous tales of their drug taking?"

"The music industry and the whole cult of celebrity has a hell of a lot to answer for when it comes to drugs and I cannot understand how they get away with it."